TOGETHER AGAIN: A.J. Burnett (left) and Jorge Posada swear there is no rift between them, and they will get a chance to prove it tonight when they work together to exact revenge on the Red Sox after an Opening Night loss at Fenway.Reuters

Sure, both men have worked vociferously to deny a rift, saying that their issues really were about just one game last August against the Red Sox. But you can believe that or your lying eyes that saw Jose Molina start five of the Yankees’ 15 playoff games last year — or all the ones featuring Burnett.

Could you imagine a Yankees manager disrespecting any other Core Four member the way Joe Girardi did Posada over just one minor issue in August? Of course not. Posada and Burnett clashed regularly; there were times during Burnett’s starts that it appeared Posada spent more time on the mound than the rosin bag.

The two met more frequently than Congress did about health care — and with about the same level of cooperation.

The men say that is in the past. They insist they are wiser for the experience. They can begin showing that tonight as half of an intriguing matchup.

Boston is starting the kind of lefty, Jon Lester, who will force Girardi to decide just how much loyalty he will offer Curtis Granderson and Brett Gardner (my hunch is Granderson starts, but Marcus Thames is in for Gardner). And Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein is on record saying his lineup — with free-swinging righty additions Adrian Beltre and Mike Cameron — very well could be susceptible to hard-throwing righties with good breaking pitches. That would be the very definition of A.J. Burnett.

Except what Burnett is supposed to do against Boston and what he actually does are not always synonymous. After all, Burnett’s history against the Red Sox motivated the Yanks to bestow a five-year, $82.5 million deal on the enigmatic righty. He went into last year 5-0 with a 2.58 ERA against Boston, including 3-0 with a 0.40 ERA (one earned run in 22.2 innings) at Fenway.

In four starts last year against the Red Sox — all with Posada behind the plate — Burnett was 0-2 with an 8.85 ERA (three of those starts were at Fenway: 0-2, 14.21). Now in the lone start in The Bronx vs. Boston, Burnett authored seven shutout innings on Aug. 7 with Posada calling pitches. But two weeks later at Fenway, Burnett was drubbed for nine runs in five innings. It was in that Aug. 22 game that Posada called for a 1-2 fastball up in the zone that David Ortiz drilled for a homer. Burnett infamously walked to the back of the mound saying: “Why? Why would you throw that pitch?”

Whatever was done afterward to downplay the fracture, that became the symbol of the communication breakdown between Burnett and Posada.

The two claimed they created a better level of cooperation and cohesion in spring. Burnett praised Posada for nursing him through days when the righty lacked his killer curve while also helping incorporate a workable changeup. Still, Burnett is tricky to catch, particularly for Posada, because: 1) His pitches dart hard and late, making them difficult to receive well and 2) He tends to beat himself up for mistakes, allowing a blunder with one batter to distract him for others.

Posada has a tendency to botch late-moving pitches, as was exhibited when a seventh-inning passed ball off a Damaso Marte pitch Sunday night led to the go-ahead run in the Red Sox’s 9-7 triumph. And Posada also has a fiery nature. He used to spar with the equally passionate Orlando Hernandez, but El Duque found calm in that storm. Burnett typically does not, something he even admits he must improve upon.

For it is probably what most has stopped Burnett from translating elite stuff into elite results. Tonight, at age 33, he begins a new season trying yet again to show better maturity both in his own head and in his relationship with an equally emotional catcher.